Umpire walks out after alleged abuse

A report in The Daily Telegraph says thatan umpire walked out of a Minor Counties match between Dorset and Berkshire at Bournemouth after allegedly being verbally abused by a player.

Guy Randall-Johnson left the ground during the lunch interval on Sunday after an incident following his decision to give Julian Wood, Berkshire's captain, out lbw for 0. The Dorset Echo said that Randall-Johnson felt he was owed an apology but when it became clear there would not be one, he went home.

Cliff Pocock, the other umpire, had to stand at both ends for the rest of the day, and Peter Kingston-Davey came out of retirement to officiate on the second day.

"It seems that Guy left the ground because he felt he had lost the confidence of the players," MCCA competitions secretary Philip August told The Daily Telegraph. "We cannot have players behaving unacceptably towards umpires and we cannot have umpires walking out of games at lunchtime."

Wood, who played for Hampshire, declined to comment.

Dorset went on to win the match by an innings and 91 runs inside two days.